stress

• Interventions


  Activities to prevent a stressor from resulting in negative consequences such as psychological discomfort, anxiety, illness, and disease
• Stress


  Result of a demand that exceeds resources available to meet that demand
• Coping


  Engaging in a behavior or thought to respond to a demand
• Types of coping


  • Task-oriented coping: Finding a better way to do the task
  • Emotion-focused coping: Managing one's feelings and/or accepting that the task is beyond one's talent
• Primary appraisal


  Judging how much of a threat is involved, and how important is the outcome
• Secondary appraisal


  Determining whether resources needed to meet the demand are available
• Reappraisal


  Evaluating whether the response made to a demand/threat was effective
• Self-efficacy


  Confidence in the ability to manage a demand/threat
• Outcome efficacy


  Availability of an effective strategy to manage a demand/threat
• Personal efficacy


  Successfully employing a strategy
• Model of stress


  1. Cognitive appraisal

  2. Emotional arousal

  3. Physiological arousal

  4. Consequences
• Consequence of stress can become a new stressor and start a new feedback loop
• Setting up roadblocks


  Intervention involves setting up roadblocks at various points on the stress theory model
• Roadblocks


  • Cognitive restructuring
  • Medications
  • Relaxation techniques
  • Physical activity
• Comprehensive stress management


  Includes intervention at all phases of the stress theory model, several means of intervening are used at each phase, complete elimination of stress is not recommended, attempts to perform within optimal levels of stress
• Trainable skills to effectively manage stress

  • Prevention
  • Planning to avoid stressors
  • Source management: Reducing or eliminating the source of the stress
  • Relaxation
  • Meditation or diaphragmatic breathing
  • Thought management: Reinterpreting stressful thoughts to be less stressful
• Eustress


  Stress that results in positive consequences, allows personal growth and is beneficial to the person, encourages optimum performance
• Stress model can be used to explain negative and positive consequences of stress
• Taking control


  Managing stress means exercising control rather than giving up control, individuals can decide to control or not control the stress response, practicing specific techniques means of taking control and assuming responsibility, employing stress management techniques in a stressful way is dysfunctional
• Making a commitment


  1. Start immediately

  2. Determine a contract with yourself

  3. Include rewards for accomplishments

  4. Plan punishments for not fulfilling the contract

  5. Set realistic goals